A Waterfront Library
In Erie, Pennsylvania, a public institution is building on its nautical past to open a world of opportunity for local residents.
Recent posts
Articles & News
The World Comes to a Tiny Town
Eastport's Lesson in Globalization
Eastport Update: Electric Power from the Sea
Generation from currents
Notes From the Rest of the Country: ‘Now That I’ve Got a Look at This Place, It’s Not So Bad!’
'Now That I've Got a Look at This Place, It's Not So Bad!'
Erie and America
The challenges of Rust Belt America are real, and well-known. What's less familiar is the response some mid-sized cities are making.
‘America Is a Dream Country’
What does it mean to spend years as a Syrian refugee and then land in a brand new life in Erie, Pennsylvania?
The Education of Ryan Lochte
What he could learn from America's public pools
A Carnegie Legacy in Dodge City
Synergy of arts and civic life in a Kansas town
Dodge City Postcard
Notes from the ground, from the sky, and from the people of Dodge City, Kansas
What’s (Less) the Matter With Kansas
This week’s election news out of Kansas was the defeat in the GOP primaries of some of the hardest-line Tea Party Republicans, at both the Congressional and local- and state-legislative level. The…
Educating Migrant Children in Dodge City
"We're a port of entry 1,000 miles from the border."
A Different Kind of ‘Trump Nation’ Report
Western Kansas, where Deb and I have spent time over the past month, is the heart of Trump Nation in one sense: Trump and the GOP will almost certainly carry…
Dodge City’s New Frontier
A high school in the famed Kansas town is embracing its rapidly changing demographics.
New Pioneers in Southwest Kansas
Mexican immigrants on the Great Plains try to build new lives, with hope and help.
The Story of Ernestor
Dodge City, Kansas relies on undocumented immigrants—from meatpacking workers to the city's assistant finance director.
From the Air Traffic Controller’s Perspective
Two days ago I mentioned the unflappable, multi-tasking and multi-dimensional competence with which an air-traffic controller at Denver’s Centennial airport handled a sudden shift in winds, and the resulting complete re-organization in…